Goodbye! Good Men: How Catholic Seminaries Turned Away Two Generations of Vocations From the Priesthood

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Summary: The Cancer Within
Review: I can't thank Michael Rose enough for his carefully documented expose of what is happening in many seminaries across the country. It puts the sex scandals currently plaguing the church into their proper context. It's not the celibacy requirements, it's the immorality that is running rampant in the seminaries!

I completely agree with Mr. Rose that orthodoxy is the only path toward a resurgence in vocations in the Catholic Church. I was raised a Catholic in an urban parish in Minnesota and, quite frankly, I was more than a little disaffected with my faith until I hit my mid-thirties. The reason for my cool attitude was not that the Church was too rigid, but because the priests and religious I encountered didn't seem to believe what the Church taught. It was not until I moved to rural Minnesota about five years ago and met a young priest who was enflamed with a love for the orthodox teachings of the Catholic Church that my own love for the Church was rekindled to the point that I became a secular Franciscan. Such is the power of sincere faith.

I think the current scandals have woken up enough orthodox Catholics so that the seminary reforms proposed by the Pope recently will be far more successful in comparison to the abortive reforms that were ordered back in 1981.

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Summary: The reasons for the "contrived" priest shortage - and more!
Review: In an informative and well-written book, Michael Rose has given what is, to date, the best reasons for the present priesthood crisis.

The author claims that the reason we have a shortage of priests (at least, in many dioceses) is because for many years qualified candidates in those dioceses have been turned away. He claims that those who hold true to the authentic magisterial teachings of Holy Mother Church are, in those places, rejected in favor of men who oppose Her, especially in teachings concerning homosexuality, celibacy, an all-male priesthood, divorce, and contraception. This predictably has resulted in scandals, heterodox teachings from the pulpit, and less reverence in our houses of worship and in our liturgies.

He further claims that the reason qualified candidates are rejected is because those who would want to overthrow Holy Mother Church have made their way into powerful positions in many (but certainly not all) dioceses and seminaries, including many bishops. These people have in turn become "gatekeepers"; filtering out the qualified candidates and welcoming the unqualified. The stories that some of his interviewees tell about what goes on in heterodox seminaries are incredible.

The author has hit the nail right on the head with this book. It does not take a genius to see that the overall quality of our priests has gone down significantly in the last 30 or so years, and that the quality of the liturgy and the reverence shown by the faithful has gone down with it (but make no mistake - there are still plenty of faithful, reverent Catholics out there, and faithful priests and bishops who maintain loyalty to Rome; they are just getting fewer and further between).

And the answer the author proposes to this crisis is just so obvious; any faithful Catholic could tell you. More orthodox Catholicism, NOT LESS! We do not need to trash Vatican II; that council did not encourage disobedience and irreverence - rather, it reaffirmed them.

An excellent book - five stars easily.

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Summary: A MUST READ BOOK BUT LITTLE BIT EXPENSIVE
Review: In this book, Michael Rose says that the root of sexual abused in the Catholic Church is the homosexual subculture that has been going on in American Catholic Seminaries for years and years. American Catholic Seminaries, M. Rose says, have been infiltrated by homosexual network since 1960-s. Ever since there were many gays who became priests, bishops and even theologians. Most likely, using the frame of reformed Catholic, they are the ones who staunchly defend or promote that being gay is not wrong but good, normal and healthy. Michael Rose says that since 1960-s there were many heterosexual seminarians who had no choice but abandoned their vocation because American Catholic Seminaries were dominated by homosexual seminarians. Heterosexual seminarians, M. Rose says, were persecuted, ridiculed and taunted in many ways by gay seminarians.
Article in Fatima Crusader Magazine, published in Autumn 2002 Issue 71 under title "Clerical Scandal and the "Negligence of the Pastors" written by John Vennari also indicates the same thing. This article also is a must read.
It is good also to read a book written by Enrigue Ruada in 1982 entitled "The Homosexual Network: Private Lives and Public Policy". E. Rueda documented in this book in 1982 that homosexuals successfully targeted religious organizations for infiltration, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
I believe what Michael Rose, John Vennari and Enrique Rueda saying their books is true since most boys sexually abused by priests were not under 12 years old. This is tragedy that all Catholics should know and start doing something to save the Church from within.
Why is homosexual subculture wrong?
Well, if we are faithful to the tradition of faith of the Catholic Church, there are 3 classic standards applied by the Church to determine whether or not a seminarian is eligible to be ordained into priesthood. They are scientia, sapientia and sanitas.
First Scientia. Sciencia means science or knowledge. In order to become a priest, a seminarian must be intelligent and knowledgeable in the Catholic Faith and other human sciences such sociology, anthropology, psychology etc. And in other to get this knowledge and intelligence a seminarian must accomplish full time philosophical and theological studies for about 8 years.
Second Sapientia. Sapientia means wisdom or tactfulness. In order to become a priest, a seminarian must have a certain wisdom. He must be a good and dedicated person. He must have a strong faith. He must have a good spiritual life.
Third Sanitas. Sanitas simply means health. In order to become a priest, a seminarian must have a good health both physically and psychologically.
The disabled, accordingly, can not be ordained into priesthood, no matter who good they are spiritually and psychologically. The reason is because they can not carry out a ministry as a shepherd. Thy are not ordained for themselves but for the Church.
A seminarian also must be healthy in his sexual orientation. His sexual orientation must be normal or natural. Under this requirement, then, a gay and impotent person can not be ordained.
In regard to this, about 3 years ago (1999), more than one year before the crisis in our Church broke out, I found out in a magazine saying that about 1% of priests in the Catholic Church and also the ministers in many other denominations are gay. I was very surprised when I knew this for the first time and I asked a friend of mine as to how this could happen. He simply said: "Well, in this country, because of the human rights and human freedom, we can not impose the strict teachings of the universal Catholic Church. In addition, he said, if we prevent a gay from becoming a seminarian or priest simply because he is gay, we will be accused of being discriminating or racial. What we need to do is that we ask them not to act it out..." By in my opinion, a priest having sex with a woman still better than a priest with other men or boys. A priest having sex with women is wrong but at least it is still natural. He is wrong because he violates the law of the Church, violates what he has promised, but it is not against natural law.
"Goodbye Good Men written by Michael Rose is a must read but it is quite expensive.

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Summary: Every Catholic Should Read This Book
Review: Mr. Rose's book should be read by every Catholic. I've heard critics dismiss this book as homophobic, full of outdated thinking, contrary to Vatican II, etc. The book is none of these things. Rather, Mr. Rose points out how the REAL principles of Vatican II, which are readily discernable to anyone who actually reads the documents. The "outdated thinking" that critics dismiss are the very same ideas that fill the catechism and the documents of Vatican II. In other words, the teaching of the Church.

Mr. Rose builds an impressive case to back up his points: statistics (e.g. numbers of seminarians by year and diocese), case testimonies from former seminaries (some of them now priests), quotations from vocational directors, bishops, etc.

The books is incredibly timely, especially in light of the recent scandals where priests have been sexually involved with teenage boys. (The book went to the publisher before these recent scandals broke, making the timeliness all the more surprising).

The book may shock and anger you (it should), but it will also give you hope, as Rose documents signs that the movement to return to orthodoxy and loyalty to Church teaching is gaining momentum (orthodox seminaries are filled to capacity). If enough Catholics read this book and act on it, that return to orthodoxy and the legitimate teachings of the Church, as found in the catechism and the documents of Vatican II, will happen much sooner.

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Summary: Finally
Review: Orthodox Roman Catholics owe Mr. Rose a round of applause for writing "Goodbye: Goodmen". Rose points the finger not at the media, not at secular culture, not at the government but certain leaders of the Catholic Church. The perpetrators show about as much relgious sympathy as non-believers towards the Scriptures, the Church, the Pope and two-thousand years of Christian history. The book illuminates the following problems:

1. The long running gay and perverse subculture in certain seminaries and religious orders.

2. The discouragment and persecution of faithful, devoted and prayerful orthodox seminarians.

3. The teaching of false doctrine.

4. A deliberate attempt by some dioceses to DISCOURAGE vocations to the priesthood.

5. A wretched twarting of previous Vatican attempts at seminary reform involving lies and snow-jobs.

Rose's book is not all doom and gloom of course. He research has pointed out where the problems have been curtailed or eliminated. The dioceses that foster an atmosphere of prayer, solid teaching, loyalty and respect for the Pope all have thriving vocations programs. My only complaint is that Rose uses relativistic, political terminology such as "liberal" and "conservative". Those terms detract the true meaning of the words "orthodox" and "heterodox". The issue is one of truth or falsehood. However, for those with concern for the priesthood, this is an urgent read.

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Summary: Ecclesia
Review: Rose has brought back the inside story on the collapse on vocations within the Catholic Church in America. He has provided overwhelming documentation on how the elite centers of American Catholicism, especially the most presigious seminaries, have fostered moral depravity and religious dissent over several decades. He also shows that the few seminaries showing signs of demographic and spiritual vitality are those that adhere strictly to the doctrinal teaching of the magisterium and to the ascetical traditions of Catholicism.
His book is a call to renounce the fatalism that has clouded American Catholic thinking over the decades. Our problem is not simply the materialism and skepticism of our coulture. Our problem lies in ourselves, in our refusal to embrace a roubst Catholicism with all of its moral demands and all of its spiritual beauty. Rose is exactly on target in arguing that the solution to our crisis is not the failed effort to refashion our faith in the image of liberal Protestantism. The solution is a militant, prophetic Catholicism capable of sustaining the sacrifice of an entire life.

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Summary: Why has the Catholic Church declined?
Review: The Catholic Church of only forty years ago is hardly recognizable compared to the Church of today. Sadly, humble reverence for God and His institution and understanding of what is sacred have significantly diminished. It appears another cycle of decay and decadence has entered the Church's history.

Michael Rose has laid bare the reasons for today's catastrophic decline of the Catholic Church in America. In Goodbye! Good Men, Rose has unveiled the arrogance of a large faction of the Catholic hierarchy which has unilaterally abandoned the Church's precepts while facilitating the corruption of its clergy. Philosophically, many in control of advancing the priesthood have championed self-fulfillment over the spiritually moral ideal of self-sacrifice. In essence, the Church has cultivated a cadre of wolves in sheep's clothing while it has turned away true shepherds.

Rose outlines a politically correct mindset which has taken precedence among many bishops (and ultimately, cardinals) and their seminary proxies. He links a widespread sexually promiscuous ethos which has embraced homosexuality among the clergy to the problem of pedophilia. He exposes the chasm that exists between the orthodox priesthood and an extreme liberal wing which has denied tradition-oriented heterosexual men from entry into their ranks. In addition, Rose examines feminism and other politically-charged issues contrary to the Church's traditional teaching and moral values that have taken root. This is a must read for every Catholic who takes his religion seriously.

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Summary: Hopefully not Goodbye Good Church
Review: With a multitude of sterling examples, details, and references, Mr. Rose condemns liberalism for the loss of post-conciliar church vocations. Passé 19th and early 20th-century popes had continuously warned Catholics of the dangers of modernization. And today, as Mr. Rose meticulously narrates, heretics have indeed gained control of the church. Are the data presented 100% accurate? Elitists can argue that as they attempt to obfuscate, impress, and mystify us all. It really doesn't matter. The demise of the church speaks for itself. Those heretics, who effected the Vatican II changes in canon law, liturgy, and ordination rites should have had the decency to profess their newly-envisioned religion in their own venue with their own duly selected rituals and prelates, as Martin Luther once did, instead of revising the teachings, traditions and essence of the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Traditional and orthodox Catholics, who have been excommunicated thanks to the Novus Ordo doctrine of inclusiveness, should read this book. They won't find any new reasons explaining the post-Vatican II church's demise. They can, however, commiserate with Mr. Rose's anguish and laud his demand for a reconversion of today's church. Persons, who have no clue as to what happened to the Catholic Church but believe there is something fundamentally wrong, should read this book to find another piece in the puzzle.

Mr. Rose proposes concrete solutions for today's abuses. He understands that the post-Vatican II church is in survival mode. It is bearing identical fruits already borne by earlier 20th-century Protestant liberalizations: lack of vocations, divided denominations, and liturgical inconsistencies. Einstein said, "Stupidity is the repetition of the same experiment and expecting a different outcome". Did the Vatican II Illuminati expect a different outcome in their attempts to modernize the Church? Or was their goal the total revamping of the Church into their own secular, humanistic, and prideful self-image? Wasn't it even more ludicrous to expect dogmatic consistency after offering positions of authority and vocations to Protestant ministers who may have engendered, or at least not prevented, the demise of the Protestant Orthodoxy? Mr. Rose is right.

While buttressing his position with numerous specifics, Mr. Rose could have cited subtle changes in canon law enacted by his liberals that would have further supported his case, (1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 2359, Section 2 versus the 1983 Code, Canon 1395, Section 2, regarding penalties for pedophilia by religious). Why these paradigm shifts in canon law and dogma? Is dogma mutable?

After centuries of heretical attacks, the essence of Catholicism remained immutable under the auspices of the great Doctors of the Church and a plethora of devout religious vocations. We truly were standing on the shoulders of giants. Today's Novus Ordo church navigates a Diluvium sea of moral consensus and feel-good psycho-doctrine and rituals and definitely needs more people like Mr. Rose.

The paucity of vocations is only one tumor, albeit a major one, asphyxiating the church today. Mr. Rose states that vocations can only be engendered by a return to true sanctity and orthodoxy by both the apostolate and the laity. I would add that the repudiation of heretics and the humble acceptance of pre-Vatican II dogma are also essential.

Critics may say Mr. Rose has further destroyed the church from within. Considering what some of Mr. Rose's Novus Ordo bishops have done to the church, this author merits sainthood. And why not, the current pope has canonized more saints in the last 10 years than were canonized in the first 1,960 years of the Church's history. We must truly be living in saintly,...or is it sanctimonious, times?